Breaking News, Latest Philippines Headlines, World, Entertainment, Politics, Weather & Video News
NEW DELHI, June 2, 2023 (AFP) – The death toll from a multiple train collision in eastern India has risen to at least 207 people, with more than 850 others injured and more feared trapped, officials said early Saturday. “We have already counted 207 dead and the toll will still go up further,” Sudhanshu Sarangi, director general of Odisha Fire Services, told AFP from the accident site. “The rescue work is still going at the […]
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — India’s leading opposition figure Rahul Gandhi denounced Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s stranglehold on Indian society on Thursday but expressed confidence that the opposition can beat the ruling party in 2024 elections. Gandhi, who was speaking at the National Press Club in Washington, is a member of the Congress Party and was expelled from the Indian parliament after being convicted of defamation in March for remarks made during a 2019 election […]
TOKYO, June 1, 2023 (AFP) – Japan’s prime minister unveiled a $25 billion plan on Thursday to expand support for young people and families in a bid to help raise the country’s plummeting birthrate. Larger direct subsidies for those with children and more financial help for education and prenatal care are on the cards, along with the promotion of flexible work styles and paternity leave. Fumio Kishida said he was proposing “policies to tackle the […]
By Amélie BOTTOLLIER-DEPOIS Agence France-Presse UNITED NATIONS, United States, June 1, 2023 (AFP) — Transferring more than a million barrels of oil from an abandoned tanker anchored off the shore of Yemen comes with “palpable risks” — but doing nothing could lead to a devastating oil spill, a senior UN official said Wednesday. “If something were to go wrong, indeed, many questions will be asked,” said Achim Steiner, head of the United Nations Development Program, […]
BEIJING, June 1, 2023 (AFP) — Lavish meals, gushing praise and memes about “Comrade Musk” — China showered the Tesla CEO with admiration during his whistlestop tour of the country this week. The mercurial magnate is a controversial figure in the West but widely admired in China, where Tesla’s electric vehicles have become a staple of middle-class urban life. His visit was welcomed by Zhu Qi, a Tesla owner from the central city of Changsha. […]
By W.G. Dunlop, Sara HUSSEIN Agence France-Presse TOKYO, June 1, 2023 (AFP) — Beijing’s decision to decline a meeting between US and Chinese defense chiefs is “unfortunate”, particularly given recent “provocative” Chinese behavior, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said Thursday. The comments come days after Washington accused Beijing of an “unnecessarily aggressive maneuver” near a US surveillance aircraft. Washington had invited China’s Minister of National Defense Li Shangfu to hold talks with Austin on the […]
BEIJING, May 31, 2023 (AFP) – Beijing blamed US “provocation” Wednesday for an incident last week in which a Chinese plane crossed in front of an American surveillance aircraft over the South China Sea. The incident comes at a time of frayed ties between Washington and Beijing over issues including Taiwan, which China regards as its territory, and the shooting down of an alleged Chinese spy balloon that flew over the United States this year. […]
HANOI, May 31, 2023 (AFP) — Faced with record-breaking heat, Vietnam’s capital Hanoi has turned off some street lights to save electricity as demand for air conditioning soars. Parks in the city of eight million people are now plunged into total darkness after 11 pm, while two-thirds of street lights are also switched off at the same hour. Scientists have warned that global warming is intensifying extreme weather events such as heatwaves. In early May, […]
BEIJING, May 31, 2023 (AFP) — Elon Musk and China’s industry minister discussed ways to develop new energy vehicles Wednesday, a day after the Tesla CEO flew into Beijing and declared he wanted to expand his business in the world’s second largest economy. The mercurial billionaire, one of the world’s richest men, is on his first trip to China in more than three years. On Wednesday he met Jin Zhuanglong in Beijing to discuss “the […]
By Claire LEE Agence France-Presse SEOUL, May 31, 2023 (AFP) — North Korea launched a military spy satellite Wednesday, but it crashed into the sea soon after as an “accident occurred” during its flight, state media said. Pyongyang does not have a functioning satellite in space and leader Kim Jong Un has made developing a military spy satellite a top priority for his regime, personally overseeing some launch preparations. North Korean space authorities “launched a […]
By Claire LEE Agence France-Presse SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — North Korea launched its purported spy satellite Wednesday, the South’s military said, prompting confusion in Seoul as the city briefly issued an evacuation warning in error. South Korea’s military detected the launch of what Pyongyang has described as a military reconnaissance satellite “from Tongchang County area of North Pyongan Province in North Korea, at around 6:29 today” in a southerly direction, the Joint Chiefs of […]
HONG KONG, May 30, 2023 (AFP) – Macau’s new national security law took effect on Tuesday, imposing wider restrictions on political opposition and civil society in the Chinese city. The gambling hub has a separate legal system from the Chinese mainland, largely based on Portuguese law, and national security legislation was first enacted in 2009. Macau’s government said the amendments were designed to catch up with similar legislation in China and Hong Kong, with an […]
